Keselowski To Start On Front Row At Fontana
March 22, 2014
FONTANA, Calif. (March 21, 2014) – Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion team qualified on the front row for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway. The effort marks the fourth-consecutive race that Keselowski has qualified on the front row.
The effort also marked the fourth time that both Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano advanced to the final round of the new elimination style qualification. Keselowski and Logano are two of only three drivers that have managed the feat this year (Jimmie Johnson). The Team Penske duo were also the highest qualifying Ford drivers in this afternoon’s session.
In the first round, it was Logano turning the quickest lap for Team Penske as he posted the third fastest lap of the session while Keselowski was 18th quick. During the second round, Logano once again led the way with a seventh-place effort to Keselowski’s 10th-place result.
The third round proved to be the best for Keselowski as he took second-place honors to secure the front row position for the start of Sunday’s race. Logano will start the event from the seventh position.
“I have had a lot of fun with this new format,” said Keselowski. “I don’t feel like a very good qualifier. It took me all three shots to even get in the top-10. Fortunately, the last one was our best with getting us second. I am really proud of my team for that effort, and adjusting on the car to get it where we wanted it to be. We have a lot of great momentum going and want to keep that up. Qualifying up front is always fun and always a great start to the weekend. There is more to be done in the race, and we need to keep that going as well. I’ve had some really good races of late and we’re happy where we are at. We are finding a nice flow for our team and hopefully we can keep that up and get another race win this weekend.”
The Auto Club 400 will air live on Sunday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m. ET on Fox. The event will also be broadcast on MRN and SiriusXM.